The invention relates to a device for activating a lace-up traction device for a shoe, comprising a housing arranged in the rear region of the substructure of the shoe, with a slider comprising a rearward projecting activation projecion being accommodated in said housing so as to be slidable in longitudinal direction of the shoe; said device further comprising a tension lever encompassing the housing, said tension lever being held at its front end so that he can hinge up or down and said lever being able to be pushed down by the heel of the foot when the shoe is put on; with said tension lever in its pushed down state being lockable with the slider which has been brought to a rearward snap-in position, and unlockable by moving the slider forward; and with the underside of said tension lever comprising a guide for the top end region of a rocker whose bottom end region acts together with lace-up traction elements and is guided in a longitudinal guide, which rocker being pre-tensioned in the direction of hingeing forward and upward by means of a spring arrangement.
A device of this type is known from DE 36 29 292 C2. This printed publication discloses two embodiments with single stage and dual stage opening respectively, of the lace-up traction device. To form a rocker, the arrangement with dual-stage opening of the lace-up traction device provides a lever arrangement comprising two levers linked to each other and to the tension lever so as to be articulated, with said lever arrangement in the tensioned position being stretched out, and with said lever arrangement being pulled by the tension spring towards an end stop which is movable by means of a slider. At some distance behind the movable end stop there is a fixed end stop. During unlocking of the movable end stop, said lever arrangement is pushed forward up to the first end stop so as to carry out the first stage of the opening movement. Subsequently, by means of a second spring, the lever arrangement is moved to a buckled position, so as to carry out the second stage of the opening movement. This known arrangement is very expensive and not sufficiently reliable in its function.
Based on this, it is the object of the present invention to improve a device of the type mentioned in the introduction, using simple and economical means, to the extent that there is no longer a two-stage lever arrangement and a second spring, while nevertheless a two-stage opening action of the lace-up traction device is achieved.
According to the invention, this object is met in that the guide of the tension lever, said guide being associated with the upper end region of the rocker which is a single-part lever, comprises two branches arranged at an angle in relation to each other; that the slider comprises a stopping face, and the rocker comprises an engagement element which when the tension lever is pushed down engages said stopping face, which results in the slider being slidable to the rear, into the rear snap-in position associated with the snap-in device of the tension lever; and that the slider comprises a link-type guide means, which guide means is open towards the front, while the rocker comprises an engagement element which, by moving forward the slider, can be made to engage with said guide means when the tension lever is pushed down; with said action resulting in the engagement element of the rocker, which engagement element engages the angled guide of the tension lever, to be able to be moved to a position which is suitable for moving into the front branch of the angled guide of the tension lever.
These measures advantageously provide a simple and compact design with a single-part rocker and a spring, and due to the comparatively low number of components, ensure easy production and installation, as well as good functional safety. Thus, the device according to the invention completely overcomes the disadvantages of the generic state of the art.
Advantageous embodiments and useful improvements of the overall measures are provided in the subordinate claims. Thus, the arrangement can be such that the engagement element of the rocker, said engagement element engaging the angled guide of the tension lever, can also be made to engage the stopping face and the connecting member of the guide of the slider, so that there are no longer any additional engagement elements. This results in a particularly simple and compact design.
A further advantageous measure can consist of the slider comprising lateral walls comprising slots which form the longitudinal guide associated with the lower end region of the rocker; with lateral pins of the rocker leading through said slots, with a lace-up traction element being able to be attached to said pins. Accommodating the rocker on the movable slider, which slider is preferably provided in the housing comprising lateral walls, results in particularly good functional safety and facilitates inserting the device according to the invention in a shoe.
It is advantageous if the housing comprises a projecting tongue on which the tension lever is hingeably held by means of a snap-in claw. Arranging the tension lever on the housing makes it possible, in a simple way, to achieve good accuracy and functional safety while at the same time providing a unit which can be completely pre-assembled. The device according to the invention can thus be inserted in the associated shoe as a completely pre-assembled unit.
Further advantageous embodiments and suitable improvements of the encompassing measures are provided in the remaining subordinate claims and are set out in the following exemplary description and explained in more detail by means of the drawing.